The Dream Prison
by Era Yachi
Summary: Luffy is missing, but still around. Zoro fights to become the world's greatest swordsman. Nami guides the ship into a storm, Usopp argues with himself, Brooke awakens to nothing, and Chopper struggles with a patient. Welcome to Nightmare Island.
1. Prologue

**_The Dream Prison  
_**

**_-  
_**

Luffy opened his eyes and saw a vast sea of stars in front of his eyes. Reaching up to make sure his straw hat was still there, he sat up feeling mildly confused. He was sure he'd fallen asleep on the deck of the Thousand Sunny, so why was he laying on a huge rock? The Straw Hats' captain blinked and looked around, wondering if one of his nakama had brought him here.

He noticed someone standing on the edge of the cliff nearby, hand on the hilt of one katana, but facing away. Excitedly, Luffy leapt to his feet and looked at the swordsman earnestly. "Zoro!"

Zoro turned around, one of his eyebrows slightly furled. "Oh, you're finally awake. You know you can sleep through almost anything?"

"Huh?" Luffy looked left, then right, oblivious to what the swordsman was saying. "Where did everyone go? I'm hungry. Where's Sanjii?"

"In town, with everyone else," came the cool reply, as Zoro crossed his arms. "We couldn't wake you up to tell you, but we stopped on this island to get some supplies."

"Supplies? Town?" Luffy scratched his head. "Island?"

"Like I said, you slept through the whole thing. Let's go meet up with everyone already. I'm starved."

The captain's eyes lit up at the very mention of a possible meal. "Me too! I need food. Which way's the town?"

"This way." Zoro uncrossed his arms and began to walk towards the line of trees nearby. "Hurry up or Usopp and Robin will eat everything."

The faint smell of grilled fish was beginning to waft through the thick web of trees and plants that blocked their way to the island's small town. With boundless energy, Luffy charged right past the swordsman and into the foliage, crowing happily. To think they were on an island they never knew was coming! There could be all sorts of fun and dangerous things to do here. As soon as his stomach was full, he'd start looking for something fun to do. He wondered if Nami was still on the ship.

As soon as he saw the orange glow through the trembling wall of leaves, he bounced into a warm, glowing community with an enormous grin plastered on his face.

* * *

-

The seawater stung her eyes as it came splashing up from the hull of the ship, but Nami was used to this by now. Under the brilliant rays of the midday sun, she sat cross-legged on the edge of the deck, looking between the map she had been working on, and the device on her wrist. The arrow was pointed just slightly to the right, but there were some really dark clouds on the horizon to the far right, and the wind was most likely going to carry them to block their path to the next island.

Possibly. The Grand Line had no predictable climate, and those clouds might just pop up over their heads in less than five minutes, but for right now…they seemed to be going the right way. There was no east or west right now, she just had to keep the ship going straight to skirt around the storm and then start arcing towards the island from another side. It might work.

Nami inhaled deeply and tucked the map away into her pocket. Another large wave crashed into the bow of the ship, sprinkling her with a little more icy water. In less than an hour, she would see if her prediction came true.

"Nami! Hey!" She turned her head to see Franky, apparently taking a break from his crafting, sit on the railing next to her. "You've been sitting here like this for some time. Keep it up and you'll get burnt."

"No, I won't let that happen," she replied, flashing a quick smile. "I'm just worried about those clouds over there. I keep thinking that if I wish hard enough, they won't get in our way."

"Yeah, that's quite a storm." Franky shielded his eyes with one of his huge hands. "Nothing you can do about it until it gets close. Then we'll aim the cannon at them, and…boom!"

She laughed a little. "Okay, you can try. But it's my job to try and steer clear of them." She could smell Sanjii's cooking wafting from below deck and her stomach rumbled a little. "Mmm, I smell fish. I wonder when lunch will be ready."

"Anytime for you, Nami-saaan!" came the muffled cry from below deck. Nami heaved a sigh.

* * *

-

Had to keep going…keep crawling. His fingers stretched out, clawing at the dirt as he pulled his body along. If he got up, the bounty hunters would see him and attack him all at once. Somehow he had to get back to the ship and warn the others about Mr. 13's group and their plan to sink the Thousand Sunny. He couldn't let them do that. Captain Usopp the Invincible wasn't going to allow anyone to destroy their new ship, or hurt his nakama! Even if he had to crawl there like this, on his belly, he would do it for the sake of his pride of being a man of the sea! This warrior wouldn't let a bunch of weak bounty hunters…get the ship…

The tall grass hid him from the hunters' sight. If he kept low, they'd never know he was there. It was all up to him now, to warn the others. Reach, claw, pull, rest. Reach, claw, pull, rest. His legs felt like liquid, like they wouldn't move at all because they were so paralyzed. The hunters must have wounded him, that was it…he couldn't stand up because they had paralyzed his legs. There was no way he could move faster when he was hurt. Everyone would understand when he got back. They'd thank him for putting his life on the line, praise him for being so brave…

He continued to crawl forward, scraping his nose against the ground. It didn't smell like dirt, for some reason…with a kick, he realized that he could smell the overpowering aroma of grilled fish. Damn those bounty hunters! They were getting ready to eat and he was just trying to get away from them…how could they sit there and be so sure of themselves? If only he could stand up and teach them all how much they should be afraid of the Straw Hat pirates, to prove how strong his crew was—but his legs wouldn't move. Slowly, ever so slowly, he'd get back to the ship. Those bounty hunters would regret attacking him like that, his nakama would avenge him for sure…

Finally, the top of the slope and the edge of the cliff. Usopp pulled himself to the edge to look over at the brilliantly sparkling sea, out towards the Thousand Sunny that bobbed up and down close to shore, and—

Something clutched around his heart. Not five hundred feet away from the peacefully rocking Thousand Sunny was another ship, a smaller one with a white sail with a skull-and-crossbones adorned with a straw hat…and it struck a painful and joyous chord in his chest all at once. He'd found the Thousand Sunny all right, but there was…there was…

It was the Going Merry.

He felt like he was being torn in two.

* * *

-

Crimson liquid mixed with the drenching downpour as the corpse of another attacker dropped to the ground. The pillars towering all around him blocked out all light from the moon or stars, but somehow it was so easy to see the shapes of his assailants. They loomed towards him like monsters basking in the midnight fever, sword glinting mysteriously as they pursued, one after another.

Zoro wasn't even breathing hard. Some of them were harder than others to cut down, but they couldn't possibly get past him. He stood in the middle of nowhere for this, and it was his dream he was protecting. If he didn't make it, then he might as well never go back to Luffy and the others. His pride, his reason for driving forward was on the line.

A shadow dropped on him from above, and he parried the edge of a sharpened blade with two of his katanas, gritting his teeth painfully around the third. He threw the man off of him and ducked under the sweeping arc of another sword as it appeared from behind. He quickly slashed the body of the back-attacked with his left hand and leapt after the first swordsman with fire in his lungs.

Another splash of blood struck the grassy plateau, and the second body dropped. Zoro scanned the silent horizon for signs of an army, or a legion. Someone was watching him—he could feel it in his gut. Curling his fingers around the hilts of his katanas, he remained perfectly still as he trained his senses on his surroundings. The lonely, massive pillars that stood around like the trunks of so many half-shattered trees were the only things in sight.

If he kept fighting, he would finally reach the man he'd been searching for. Every last swordsman in the world would either die or be defeated, and he'd take the title from his final opponent at last. It would be a long night. A cold night. Until he met them all, there was no way he could stop. The rest of his nakama were waiting for him on the ship, and they expected a true swordsman to return to them, not a powerless wannabe. He was starving…what he wouldn't give right now for a single grilled carp…his patience was wearing thin.

"Where are you? Stop hiding and fight me!" he growled into the rain-spattered meadow. The sound of shuffling grass returned and a tall shadow stepped out from behind a pillar.

"Yohohoho…"

The sound drove a cold spike into his back. Zoro went rigid in shock as the light with no source cast dimly across the long-limbed structure of a familiar skeleton. The permanent grin on his face drove the spike in further as his nakama paced ever so slowly toward him, his cane hooked around one arm.

"B-Brook…" His jaw loosened and his third katana dropped, the tip slicing into the muddy soil at his feet.

The skeleton's expressionless, bony face framed by the afro, now thoroughly soaked and dripped with bitterly cold rainwater, betrayed nothing. Instead, Brook opened his mouth again and there came the usually cheerful laughter, now so chilling and ominous. "Yohohoho…ho…"

* * *

-

Laughter filled the ship, from bow to stern, up through the sails and deep into the cabin as the crew danced around the deck, dancing and celebrating. The sound of Brook's violin accompanied by the even more upbeat singing of 'Bink's Sake' took up the background. Chopped didn't even remember what they were celebrating, but it was _so_ much fun!

"Hey, Chopper! Catch!" The blue-nosed reindeer looked up and caught the mug just in time as it came sailing down. Usopp leaned over the railing in front of the kitchen, smiling broadly. "Woo hoo! Great catch!"

Chopper drank from the mug in three large gulps, feeling his stomach bubble and tingle with excitement. Suddenly, he was swept up from the ground by a pair of very stretchy arms and then he was sitting on top of Luffy's shoulders, bouncing around as the captain did a jig on the top of the cabin.

Robin stood beneath them, her arms crossed. She had an amused smile on her face, and her eyes were burning with joy as she watched the pair of them twirl around. Then she was grabbed by Nami, who began to dance in circles with her as the merry tune floated around.

"Hey! Sanjii, what's for dinner?" Usopp leaned his head back and asked the slightly open door. He took a deep whiff. "Oooh, smells like grilled carp! Guess what, Luffy? Fish for dinner!"

"Whoo hooo! Food, food, food! Food, food, food!" cried a happy Luffy, still holding onto Chopper's ankles. "Hear that, everyone? Sanjii's making dinner, Sanjii's making dinner!"

"Idiot, he always makes dinner!" Zoro pointed out, grinning from the spot where he'd collapsed to rest. He had bandages on as usual, and didn't feel like dancing around so much.

"Yohohoho!" cackled Brook. "So much fun! Everyone join in this next verse!"

As the voices of the crew rose up happily to oblige, Chopper closed his eyes for a moment as he spun around on the captain's shoulders, to listen to everyone singing. Spin, spin, spin…though he felt light-headed from all the dancing, he wouldn't trade _anything_ in the world for moments like this. Here they all were, partying under the sunset with nothing to worry about but the clear sky and the next three days of smooth sailing.

Spin, spin…then Luffy stopped spinning. Chopper giggled for another moment, only to realize that he was the only one making any noise. His eyes snapped open, just in time to see a wide-eyed Usopp clutch the railing in front of him, until his tan knuckles were white. In just a few seconds, he began to lean forward…and fell off the railing, crashing limply to the deck below.

"_Usopp!_" The collective cry of shock came from all of the crew members. Brook's violin slipped and clattered to the ground.

Chopper didn't know how long it took for him to get to Usopp's side, but it took only a few heartbeats for the blood to run cold through the veins of the Straw Hats.

* * *

-

Brook opened his eyes, or rather tried to open them, succeeding only in regaining his consciousness. Of course, he had no eyes, so there was nothing to open!

Skull joke!

Laughing at himself inwardly, the tall skeleton sat straight up in bed, recognizing the familiar indoors of the Thousand Sunny and all of the smells that accompanied it. He stretched out his arms, hearing his bones creak and patted his afro slightly, making sure it wasn't flattened or (loathe the thought!) missing. Then he reached over and plucked his hat from the table beside the bed, and put it firmly on top of his precious head of hair.

The oil lamp was still burning on the table, as well. What a short nap, he decided. It must be morning by now; time to do his daily routine—had to keep useful, after all. No sense in getting lazy when such a magnificent ship needed so much care!

Brook stepped into the hallway and looked both left and right. Hmm, no one around. If they went to the kitchen, surely there would Sanjii or Nami. He really felt like talking to his nakama right now…he tried to imagine the thousands and thousands of mornings he had awoken inside an empty ship, with no one to speak to at all. One pleasant word or two and he'd go searching for the mop and bucket…

He used a skeletal hand to push open the kitchen door, breathing in the lingering smell of a most recently cooked meal—fish of some kind—and prepared to startle everyone with a most joyous greeting.

"Yohoho—"

The squeak of the kitchen door closing behind him gave the eerie silence an even more horrible twist. Not so horrible, actually. It was empty. No one sat at the table, and no Sanjii stood inside.

It made him feel disappointed, of course. He must surely be the first one on the ship to wake up, that was all. If he went up on the deck, someone would come out eventually. Holding his cane tightly in one hand, the musician turned around promptly and exited through the door he had just come through.

The steps leading to the deck weren't many, but as the doorway grew closer, he noticed that it was still rather dark outside. How could it be? He awoke just after sunrise each and every day, how did he possibly wake up sooner than usual? A dream, maybe?

As Brook climbed the steps, and emerged onto the deck, his bones began to weight him down. One, two, three steps, and he came to a slouched halt just in front of the main mast. Fog penetrated the air like a silent monster. Very slowly, the skeleton turned his skull to look around the ship. His heart was pounding in his chest…but then, he had no heart…! Skull…joke…

His empty eye sockets landed on the body of his first nakama, and the surge of relief and joy he felt at the sight quickly became a bone-shredding terror.

Then the fog thickened, rolling over him in a wave that seemed to steal the soul from his very body.

* * *

-

AN: Confusion is normal. No Robin or Franky sections…don't know their characters well enough. As for Sanjii…well, you'll see.


	2. Zoro's Ambition

AN: 'Kusho Kusho no Mi' is the variation that I could think of a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit. Pretty sure 'kuusho' is 'empty space' in Japanese, but that's my knowledge based on someone else's rusty knowledge of the language.

Also, because of its nightmarish dark-like content, this chapter might seem morbid to you. Well, maybe. I don't know…what's your intensity tolerance? Check your pulse once in a while. Oh, and eat your veggies.

* * *

-

_Chapter One: Zoro's Ambition_

_-_

Something cold dripped onto his face. Sanjii brought a hand to swat at it as he regained consciousness, light flooding his vision at a throbbing pace. He slowly sat up—

Whack.

"Damn!" His other hand flew to the top of his head, where a bump was already beginning to form. Somehow, he'd fallen asleep under the kitchen counter. And the cold liquid that was dripping on him was…soy sauce, by the look of it. A gleaming line of it coated the edge of the counter, occasionally beading up and plummeting to the floor.

After rising to his feet, the cook first noticed the broken bottle on the counter and the plates of half-eaten food on the table across from him. Lying on the floor three feet from the table was an unconscious Franky, breaking the silence with his rattling snores, and…

Robin-san!

She was slumped against the wall, her eyes closed. Somehow, he managed to cross the room in anf instant and knelt by her side. "Robin-san! My precious Robin-san, please wake up! You'll catch a cold sleeping on the floor like this!"

He wasn't afraid of melodrama. The moment something bad happens to either Nami-swan or Robin-san, he will always be helpless to do anything but make them feel better. Sanji watched her face carefully, and after a few moments, the archaeologist opened her eyes a crack afnd looked up at him.

"What…is going on?" She used a hand to push herself off the floor. Simultaneously, the heavy clunking of the cyborg behind them announced that Franky was also awake. The trio of them stood around the disheveled kitchen, basked in the confusion of the moment.

"How did I end up on the floor?" Franky scratched his head, still facing the opposite direction. "What the hell? Where is everyone?"

" Luffy and the others, they're missing," Robin pointed out, grabbing his attention. Franky turned around. "I thought we had just started to eat dinner, when something hit the ship. It seems we survived, though."

"Well, the food's still on the table. Our captain can't be far," pointed out Sanji. Mostly convinced that Robin was unhurt, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it, inhaling slowly. "If everyone fell asleep, they're probably on the ship somewhere."

"Wrong!"

All three tensed up at the unmistakably juvenile, nasally voice that filled the kitchen doorway. There stood a very short kid with a head of messy blue dreadlocks. In his hand, he held the handle of a bag that was easily the size of his body. It was tattered and the handle was chipped, giving the impression that this piece of luggage didn't often leave its master's grasp.

"You are _so_ wrong, it's embarrassing!" the kid barked again, from behind his brown scarf. "Beware, you pitiful pirates! You're now in the domain of the great, amazing, most-feared bounty hunter in the world, so great in fact that he owns a whole island by himself! So greatly feared in fact, that no pirate has ever managed to escape his terrifying, dastardly claws!" This was shortly followed by a rehearsed laugh of what might have been triumph. It would have made Usopp wince.

A very awkward second or two passed, where only the sound of the waves and a collection of crickets could be heard. The blue-haired kid blinked. "Huh? You're not impressed?"

"_Who the hell are you!?_" shouted the trio of Straw Hats at once.

Their intruder winced and jumped behind his leather bag. Sanji gradually stalked towards him, took the cigarette from his mouth and stared the kid down. "Tell us where our crew is, jerk."

The boy clutched his bag. "I won't be intimidated by you, foul pirate! I'll only tell you because it was an order, not because I'm scared of you! The amazing Green-Eyed Geremy is afraid of only one thing, and that is—omph!"

His voice was cut short by the shoe that was placed on top of his face. The Sunny's cook stood with one leg raised, hands in his pockets and teeth grit tightly. "Now you have three seconds."

"Okay, okay, okay, okay!" 'Green-Eyed Geremy' pulled back, dragging the bag with him. "The Nightmares have them. But I only let them borrow my island! It's mine, got it? I'll take you to your nakama right now but you have to get them out of here really quick! And after that, you've gotta promise you'll beat up the Nightmares and never come back again!"

Behind him, Sanji heard Robin gasp slightly, He glanced backwards with just his eyes and waited for an explanation.

"The Nightmares…are here? But they're supposed to be in prison…" She sounded almost frightened. "This isn't good. If he's telling the truth, we only have a little time before our friends die."

Shock rippled through the room. "W-What!?" cried both Sanji and Franky.

"Oh, good, you know about them already!" Geremy remarked with a relieved sigh. Then he immediately went back to his former charade. "B-But still, you heinous criminals will pay for your sins after we take care of the Nightmares!"

It took a few moments, but gradually Sanji realized that the ship was not rocking under their feet. There were sounds of waves crashing against the shore outside, and crickets, which meant…Sanji looked up, over the edge of the Thousand Sunny to take in their surroundings. He then went pale.

"Shit, we're on an island!" he shouted, running to the edge of the ship. Franky and Robin chased after him, and they all looked down towards the hull. They were standing on a beach…or rather, the ship was sitting on a beach. Not in the water. Aground.

"Oi, calm down already!" snapped the blue-haired kid, jumping onto the railing next to them. "I put your ship here so it wouldn't float away while you guys were asleep."

Three heads slowly turned on him, and Sanji growled, "Why the hell would you do that?"

The kid shrugged. "The anchor's way too heavy for me to lift."

Sanji almost fell over.

"You put the ship here? You can't lift an anchor, so how did you lift the ship?" Robin wanted to know, leaning back on the railing with a calm expression.

"Easy, you foul-smelling pirate! I put it inside this!" Geremy gave his well-used bag a short kick. Then he grinned proudly. "I ate the Kusho Kusho no Mi when I was little."

They blinked at him.

Geremy frowned. "It means I can change the amount of space inside of things, you stupid pirates. I could put an entire island inside if I wanted to!"

Franky scratched his chin. "That's one of the strangest Devil Fruit powers I've ever heard of."

"Shut up!" Geremy snapped. "If you want to save your nakama, I'll take you to see them, but if you get caught by the Nightmares, which you evil no-gooders probably will, you can't tell them I helped you!"

"Why are you helping us?" asked Robin.

"None of your business, wench! Now get inside the bag before I change my mind and let the Nightmares get you, too!"

Sanji stared down at the boy with a smirk, flicking a bit of ash in his direction. "Sorry, but I don't like getting inside of strange bags without knowing—h-h-hey, Robin-san!"

The black-haired woman was standing next to the kid's open bag, getting ready to step inside. Her eyes flickered over to the cook. "What? Our captain and our friends need our help. If we don't hurry, we'll never rescue them in time."

"The lady has a point, cook," said Franky, though he looked at the kid's bag with a strange expression. He cracked his knuckles. "Straw Hat wouldn't stand around waiting for someone to explain. Let's go get our crew back."

"I'll explain everything I know once we find the others," promised Robin. "Let's go, Sanji."

"Get in, hurry, hurry, hurry!" cried Geremy, as a sudden gust of wind picked up and rattled the ship's furled sails. "They might be on their way back already, idiots!"

Sanji watched as Robin calmly stepped into the top of the open bag and…vanished. After stretching his arms, Franky too leapt into the dark gaping hole that seemed to lead to nowhere at all. Eye twitching slightly, the cook leaned over to peer inside of the strange object…when he felt something kick him from behind. After that, he was falling head-first into an empty voice, screaming—

* * *

-

The sound of the metal blade scraping against the sheath made Zoro shudder. That sound never bothered him before, never once in his lifetime, but since it was coming from the skeleton fifteen feet in front of him, it scared the hell out of him. His other opponents were definitely dead, but Brook still unsheathed his sword and dropped the end of his cane on the ground. The tip of the blade was pointed at him.

"What are you doing?" the swordsman growled around the hilt of his katana. "I've got no time to play around! Go somewhere else!"

"I couldn't possibly leave already," came Brook's chilling response, sounding far too happy considering the situation. "Didn't you know that we are rivals, Zoro? In order for you to be a great swordsman, you have to finish me, too! Yo-hohohoho!"

"The hell—" Zoro grit his teeth tightly. "Why are you laughing? I don't want to fight you!"

"Yohoho! It's not about want you want! Having come this far, I thought you would have realized that by now. But let's not talk each other's ears off—not that I have any ears!"

Zoro never expected the musician to lunge at him after a lame joke like that, but with another burst of laughter that sounded more like a battle cry, Brook suddenly did. The green-haired man just managed to dodge to his left before the skeleton's blade swept by, and brought both his left and right katana up in order to block it as it came arcing down. Paralyzed with indecision, Zoro strained backwards under the weight of Brook's attacked. Sweat beaded over his eyes.

Since when was…this skeleton…so…heavy? Zoro gripped his swords even tighter, pushing forward with all his might. Acting on impulse, he rolled his body around and loosened their death-grip, thrusting his elbow into the middle of Brook's spine to knock him down. The skeleton did fall, landing on his face. But after half a second, he gathered his long limbs and stood up again. Zoro's eyes widened.

He blocked the next thrust, then parried the following swing, and continued to knock his opponent's blade away time after time. Somewhere in the back of his mind he was expecting Brook to give up, or suddenly declare that he was just kidding around, but the ferocity of the musician's attacks was too much. Brook was an exceptional fighter, but nowhere near his league. It would just take a few simple moves to end the fight, but he had no intention of hurting his nakama. After a minute, Zoro side-stepped and used the blunt edges of his katanas to knock the skeleton back again.

"Stop!" he shouted angrily.

"Go!" Brook exclaimed, laughing in return as he swept towards him. Like a bell chiming, their blades struck again, and Zoro was forced into another deadlock, to stare into the somewhat maniacal eye sockets of his opponent. Rainwater washed over his numerous small cuts, but that sting didn't even register in comparison to the pain of his next realization. He had to fight back. With enough restraint, he could just knock the skeleton out and wait for his true opponent to arrive. Wherever the hell Luffy and his other nakama were, they needed to get here soon to take care of this.

"You're not giving me a choice," he told the skeleton. "I can't hold back anymore. I don't know what's wrong with you, but I promise…" He closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them. "I'll figure it out when I've defeated 'him'."

Brook tilted his head slightly, his sword still locked between Zoro's left and right katana. "Oh?" After another moment, the skeleton sighed softly, and added with no conviction, "Too late."

And then he simply vanished. In a swirl of black smoke that filled the rainy air and promptly disappeared, the musician was gone. Zoro tensed, a shaken grunt only partially leaving his throat, because he sensed the fatal strike coming from behind even before he heard the splash of Brook's shoe in the mud. In a flash, the swordsman whirled around, arching his right blade to knock the oncoming sword away one last time.

"Yo-hoho—!"

Cut off abruptly, his skeletal nakama stood in front of him and stared at nothing. Something invisible and sharp pierced Zoro's heart at this revelation. His katana was poised just next to Brook's neck. Then the musician's skull, afro still intact, toppled from his bony shoulders. After a painfully long second, his body slowly keeled over, hitting the ground with a sickening splash.

The three blades in Zoro's possession fell around his feet. He collapsed to his knees.

It was a joke. It was some kind of sick joke. Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, even Sanji and Nam—they'd gone too far. Any minute now they would come out from behind the pillars and Brook would stand up, pick up his head, laughing at him for being so gullible. Unable to breath, the green-haired swordsman knelt, glaring at the skull sitting so still in the puddle in front of him, willing it to start moving, to laugh again.

But the only sounds came from the rain. Even though Zoro managed to choke out a breath or two, the shock of what he'd done did not change.

The soaked plateau was shattered with the swordsman's scream of futility.

* * *

-

Sanji tumbled onto a very hard surface, rolled over and landed with his back against a sharp rock. Cursing a word that made ruthless pirates cringe, he sprang to his feet and turned to face the culprit of his pain with a snarl…that died when he saw Robin-san standing in front of him.

Franky also stood there, looking at their environment and scratching his neck thoughtfully. Their 'escort', Geremy was shaking his upside-down leather bag, as though expecting something else to come out. He then drew the strings shut and sat on top of it, sighing. "Okay, I got you all here. Hurry up and rescue this guy already. If she wakes up before we get out of here, we're dead!"

Sanji looked down at his hands, then his legs, and it occurred to him that his cigarette went out. Irritably, he took out his lighter and lit it again. That's when he saw the glowing green prison in front of them. The freshly glowing cigarette dropped from his lips and died.

They were inside a cave without an entrance or exit. The rough walls of the chamber reflected the light of the object in the center with an eeriness no fog-infested swamp or dark, haunted lagoon ever had. The trio of Straw Hats took a moment to stare at the strange creature inside the cube-shaped light and its second occupant: Zoro.

Sanji blinked. "Shit."

The monster with her arms wrapped around Zoro's head had the body of a horse laying on the ground with its legs folded. The swordsman was sitting with his back against her torso, somewhat tangled in the Nightmare's long, ugly, stringy hair. Zoro's face was beaded with sweat and twitched with an expression of obvious anguish. As the light from the surrounding prison that entrapped the Nightmare and their nakama shone one, a sense of dread came over them.

"Z-Zoro!" The cook started forward on impulse, but Robin's hand appeared out of nowhere and seized his wrist.

"Wait, Sanji," she said. "The five Nightmares are creatures with a very rare Devil Fruit power. As soon as you step inside their prison, you'll become part of their visions."

"Mmm hmm," agreed the blue-haired kid, leaning back casually against the wall. "You can only get near them when they're not dreaming. You can go inside, but a filthy pirate like you probably won't last three seconds against her nightmares."

"Shut up, brat," replied Sanji, losing his mood to banter with the annoying Devil Fruit user. "One of us has to stop this, and Franky's right. If Luffy were here, he'd already be inside. I'm going."

"Wait!" Robin cried, before he could get any closer. He looked back at her, torn between going and listening to his previous Robin-san.

"Whatever you see…whatever's happening inside, don't believe any of it. Your only priority is to get Zoro back." Her eyes narrowed with concern, and the cook felt part of his insides melt. Forcing that thought aside, he gave a curt nod and faced the monster's prison again.

Putting all of his strength into his legs, he leapt into the air and crashed into the glowing green wall, and was instantly pulled into a nightmare.

* * *

-

No more enemies came. It seemed like Zoro was alone, in the midst of a battlefield he created with his own ambition. The bodies of several swordsmen lay strewn about, the rivers forming between the blades of grass and serrated rocks streaked with blood. Blood coming from every corpse, except one.

A dull flash of lightning brought him back to his senses, if partially. Zoro looked up, swallowing to try and ease his parched throat. Behind the skull, and behind that, behind Brook's body, he saw someone sitting cross-legged in the mud. The blue shorts, the red vest, and the straw hat bent forward to cover his eyes…it was Luffy, at last. His captain didn't move for a long time.

Zoro recognized the frown on Luffy's face, and knew already that he'd just lost his second comrade. Once everyone learned about this, he'd lose everyone. He'd killed one of their own. Whatever Luffy had in mind, he deserved it.

Like a man before his execution, Zoro lowered his gaze again and unfocused his eyes. "L-Luffy…"

Luffy inhaled sharply, and something twisted inside of the swordsman. The captain of the Straw Hats raised his head to glare at him, portraying the calm before the storm. His fingers gripping his knees tightly, Luffy opened his mouth and growled, "He…was…our…_nakama_!"

His captain shot forward like a rubber arrow, and Zoro simply waited for the blow to fall on him. Luffy's fist joined his face and the swordsman's unresisting body went sailing backwards for several meters before landing heavily on the ground and sliding a few more feet.

Zoro didn't bother to sit up. Accident or no, he'd done what he'd done. Even if he didn't get the shit kicked out of him by Luffy, it would be some time before he could force himself to move. As the shape of his captain appeared above him, fist balled tightly and drawn back for a second, possibly heavier blow…Zoro just stared at the sky.

And stared.

A full minute passed, and the swordsman dared to focus his eyes slightly at the figure standing over him. The straw hat was gone and so was the red vest—replaced by the nonchalant stance of someone else, a slouched posture that was only too familiar. Sanji extended a hand toward him, the other hooked inside his pocket. Waiting.

"Get your ass up already. It's fucking cold out here."

Stunned, Zoro didn't move. Three seconds later, he felt the cook's heavy boot collide with his ribs. "Oi! I said 'get up'. You lazy bastard."

And still, when the green-haired Zoro didn't move, Sanji appeared to give up and finally grabbed the swordsman by his shirt, pulling him off the ground. "You're really gonna regret making me carry you, you son of a bitch."

Despite wanting to, Zoro still couldn't make his body move. He threw all of his effort into lifting one of his arms to push the cook away, and froze in horror when he saw his fingertips. They were dissolving. Like steam, the tendrils of black smoke that floated from the slowly disintegrating flesh and bone rose in front of his eyes. He then noticed that it was happening all over his body, eating away even faster with every passing second.

Suddenly, he was being dragged through the grass and through the rough stones, toward the field outside of the pillars. A clutching sensation around his heart sucked the air right out of his lungs, but hardly was he given a moment to think about it than the cold rain and smell of blood went away. With a scream from the depths of his chest, Zoro woke from the nightmare and threw himself forward.

He first hit Sanji, who miraculously went from dragging him to standing right in his path, and they went rolling across the cave floor together. As soon as they came to a stop, a very large hand picked Zoro up and set him down again. The swordsman stumbled for a moment before regaining his balance. All three of his swords were on his belt, still sheathed. His cuts and bruises were gone. And now he was inside a cave, surrounded by Robin, Franky, and Sanji—on the ground still and muttering something under his breath—with a strange kid in the background snickering uncontrollably.

Before that could register, a deafening shriek filled the chamber and Zoro looked at the source—the creature inside the light box was writhing angrily, and it leapt to all four of its hooves. All of her wrath lasted about five seconds, because her head abruptly blossomed into a smoking fireball. Then the headless corpse of the monster flopped over.

Franky stepped back and powered down his arm cannon, closing the hand before pumping it into the air triumphantly. "_Super_!"

Zoro gaped at the sight and gradually found his gaze wandering over to Robin, who crossed her arms with a grateful smile. Sanji stood up next to her, showing the swordsman an impolite finger.

"Are you okay?" the black-haired pirate asked gently.

"N-Not really…" Zoro was still in a state of shellshock. Once more, he found his body wouldn't listen to him.

"We managed to get you out," Sanji remarked, relighting another cigarette. In spite of his most recent adventure, he didn't look any worse than he had before stepping into the prison. "Nami-san, Luffy, Usopp, Chopper and Brook are still missing. These Nightmares are going to pay for letting my dinner go to waste like that."

Zoro shot a glare at him. "What?" he growled. Brook? But Brook was…

"Hurry up, already! Geez you shitty pirates are slow!" cried the blue-haired kid, kicking his bag.

And as if on cue, the cave began to tremble around them.

-


	3. Chopper's Sadness

_**The Dream Prison**_

_**-  
**_

AN: I digress. I'm giving Franky and Robin a much larger role than I planned. As unintentionally promised, each of the characters play a leading role in this story. And...there is blood in this chapter, and...

Who the hell knows where Luffy is?

* * *

-

_Chapter Two: Chopper's Sadness  
_

_-_

"So...it happened three years ago. A Marine ship crashed on the coast here during a storm, and they had a woman prisoner on board with them," Geremy was explaining to a group of half-listening pirates. "She was this nefarious pirate hunter they called Nightmare. She ate the berries from a Yume Yume no Mi which gave her the power to put people to sleep and control their dreams. Anyway, when the Marine ship crashed, she put the whole crew to sleep and ate their souls. Ever since—"

"Hey, brat," Zoro interrupted neutrally. "Story time can be after we rescue our crew. We're only interested in getting back to our ship and getting the hell out of here. Then you can have this shitty island all to yourself."

Sanjii made a disgruntled sound and flicked the butt of his cigarette away. Without the green glow of the Nightmare's prison, it was much darker inside the cave, and since Zoro had been extracted, the tremors in the ground were becoming more and more violent. "It's getting pretty dangerous just standing around."

Still sour from the swordsman's interruption, the blue-haired kid snorted. "You stinking pirates are all the same. Which one of you is the captain, anyway? Not moss-head over there, I hope."

"_Moss-head?"_ Zoro snapped on him.

"Our captain was taken with the others," Robin explained patiently. "He has black hair and wears a straw hat. Did you see him?"

"Oh." Geremy's eyes became serious for a moment under his shaggy locks. "Seriously?"

The swordsman shot a glance at him. "What, you know where he is?"

"No!" barked the kid. "I know where all of your shitty kidnapped friends are, okay? But I just thought of something weird and now and it's not good. There's only five caves on the whole island."

"What's your point?"

"Moron." The blue-haired kid stuck out his hand in front of him and counted his fingers slowly. "One, two, three, four, five. So how many of you went missing from your pirate ship, huh?"

As the silence befell them, the Straw Hats exchanged cautious glances as they each calculated the simple numbers in their heads. There were nine crew members in total. Three had come to the rescue, which meant that six had gone missing, including the newly liberated Zoro. Five nakama left to save...

"The Nightmare picked up a skinny girl with orange hair, a long-nosed idiot with goggles, some kind of weird pet, and a funny-looking skeleton, and moss-head over there. Then she split up and went to the caves all over my island," Geremy said with his arms crossed. "I never saw your stupid captain. Only straw hat I've seen is the one on your ugly flag."

"Oi, no insulting our flag!" Franky butt in, displaying an angry fist. "Last warning, mop top; stop bad-mouting the _super_ Straw Hats!"

"Luffy, you idiot," Zoro muttered out loud. "You're always wandering off and getting lost when you're needed most."

"That's you," remarked Sanjii and Franky in unison. The swordsman scowled at them.

"I thought of something else, too," said Geremy. He sat down on top of his bag and rubbed his nose. "The cave's trembling and all like this because you broke one of her fake Nightmares. The more friends you save, the worse it gets, and you'll probably cause a cave-in."

Zoro crushed a palm to his forehead as his brain threatened to explode with all this new information. "This island is a fucking pain."

"I'm confused. And pissed," Sanji agreed.

"We'll split up," said Robin.

The remaining group turned on her, and Zoro growled, "Eh?"

"If we destroy these caves one by one, it seems the others will collapse before we get to them," the raven-haired archaeologist explained logically, placing a hand on the rough surface of the cavern wall. "The dream creatures don't seem to be very dangerous once they're awake, so if one of us goes to each cave to rescue one of our nakama, then it should turn out fine."

"See? You idiot pirates really _are_ all the same!"

A few hard glances were directed towards the blue-haired 'runt'. "Do you think the Nightmare didn't think of that? Lots of stupid pirates tried doing that before you came along, but she killed every one of them. She splits into five different bodies, but only one of them is real. And her _real_ body's extremely powerful. Even if all four of you attack her at once, you'll all probably end up dead anyway." The kid put a palm over his face and grimaced. "Geez...why do I keep bothering with this anymore?"

"Are we dealing with one of nightmare these things or five?" Franky scratched the top of his head, and looked sullenly confused. "Didn't I just kill one?"

"No one's even listening to me!" shouted the boy. He then began to rant and ramble angrily about how stupid and deaf pirates were, which was quickly transferred to mere background noise as the group continued to formulate their next move.

"Robin-chwan's plan is still perfect," Sanji disagreed. There was more malice and intent in that statement than blind admiration, which was far more normal. The cook was obviously taking this seriously. After all, he had seen inside one of those dreams, and what he saw scared even _him_, and it wasn't even his nightmare. "No matter how strong she is, any one of us can hold her off until we regroup."

"Except you, pansy," Zoro pointed out bluntly. He put a hand on the hilt of his katana. "Tch. Guess this means we'll have to hope Luffy shows up before this dream-queen rips the island apart."

"In that case, who will be saving whom?" questioned Robin.

"Oh! Nami-swaaan!" Sanji's eyes lit up the moment the idea of rescuing his fair damsel in distress came to mind. The rest of his crew shot him a dirty look.

"Hey, just exactly how do you plan to get inside their caves, huh?" Geremy boasted from further away, as angry as ever. "I never said I'd keep helping out your dirty pirates!"

He was ignored. "There's no knowing which of the Nightmares is the real one," said the swordsman, closing his eyes for a moment in thought. "Robin should help Nami. Franky, you rescue Chopper. Sanji, you take care of Usopp. I'll go get Brooke."

"Wh-what?" Sanji bubbled, deflating.

"I don't like the idea of you going into one of Nami's dreams," said Robin, smirking. "Good thinking, Zoro-san."

Franky snickered.

"Hello? You're not going anywhere without me!" Geremy tried to get their attention again. He stomped up and down on his bag. "I'm the only one who can get in and out of this place using my Kusho Kusho ability!"

As one, the heads of the Straw Hat pirates tilted to look towards the ceiling, where the only obvious exit was the hole in the ceiling. Again, as one, they slowly turned to look at the kid again. The distant sound of crickets could be heard.

"How the hell _did_ you get in here?" Sanji finally asked.

"Idiot! Like I'd really tell you!" Geremy crossed his arms and faced away from them. He sat on top of his leather bag stubbornly. "You're not the first dumb pirates that tried this, you know. If I told you that, you'd just try to take my bag away!"

"So we don't need you to use this thing?" Franky grinned almost maliciously. He crouched next to the ugly satchel and poked it with a metal finger.

The kid's eyes bulged. "N-N-N-No, I n-n-never said that! Of course you need me to carry it! If it were anyone but me, it'd be _way_ too heavy for any of you to lift! See? I'm the only one who can get you to your friends, s-s-so you can't kill me! I'm important!"

"Tch, calm down." Zoro released the hilt of his sword. "We're not going to hurt you. If you agree to deliver us to our nakama, that is."

"Baboon! Fine!" The blue-haired boy jumped off his bag and stood up to them. He kicked Franky's hand, which was about to poke the leather bag again. "Stop that! If this goes wrong, which it's going to, then it's your fault and not mine! Hurry up and get inside my bag before I stop being so nice. C'mon!"

Zoro blinked at the kid's bag before he gave his nakama a questioning glance. None of them seemed particularly happy about doing what the kid asked. Then again, he didn't have a clue what the runt was talking about. Inside his bag? Why the hell would anyone do that?

A minute later, he found out.

* * *

-

Being 'inside' Geremy's bag was like being nowhere at all. It wasn't Franky's favourite way to travel, having preferred the option to use the Mini Merry to go from point A to point B himself, but like the rest of the crew, he didn't have much of a choice. As soon as he touched the void inside the smelly leather, into the gaping hole, he was falling again—in another direction. He landed on his back on some painful stones and clenched his teeth. When he stood up again, the blue-haired loud-mouthed kid was already pulling the strings shut and doing up the clasps that kept the bag closed.

"Welcome to Cave Number Two," Geremy announced and lifted the bag—with his crew still inside—clear off the ground. "Hey, don't look over here! I said I won't tell you my secret, remember? Go away already. Save your friend!"

Rather than patronizing the kid, Franky made a disgruntled sound and turned around, rubbing his back. The brightly glowing cube in the middle of this brand new cave immediately grabbed his attention. The annoyed twitch in his face went slack.

Another one of the half-horse creatures was on the ground, slumped forward while she—or it—slept, her hands outstretched in front of her. Her glowing palms were on top of Chopper's head, covering his face. The little form of doctor was asleep on his back in front of her.

Franky lifted his fists in front him, and cracked his knuckles. With a short glance over his shoulder, he noticed that Geremy was already missing. Trying to wake up all of their nakama at once might be a lot harder than he thought. If he waited too long, the others would wake up and he could get stuck under a massive cave-in. Or if he went in too quick, the others would be in danger, too.

Deciding to give the short blabber-mouth some time to deliver the rest of his crew to their places, the cyborg sat down on the cave floor and stared at the glimmering blue prison in front of him.

Nightmares weren't his sort of thing. He didn't think of bad dreams as anything but unneeded memories, but that didn't really matter now, did it? Being inside someone else's nightmare sounded better than getting trapped inside one made specifically for you. Like the difference between sailing on someone else's ship and trying to protect one that was made with your own two hands.

The deathly quiet cave didn't help him concentrate. Franky counted the seconds until the moment he'd break down that prison with his fist and get his nakama out of there.

* * *

-

Chopper ran into the cabin, jumped onto the chair in front of his desk and gathered as many of the bottles there that he could find. Luffy sped into the room behind him, grabbing his straw hat before it flew off.

"Luffy, hurry! Take these!" The panicking doctor tossed the bundle of supplies towards his captain and wrapped his arms around some of the bandages stockpiled inside the drawer. He hopped down again and raced to the door.

"Oi, Chopper! What's taking so long?" came a shout from outside. That was Franky, who was holding down the makeshift bandages that were holding together their nakama outside. The others were waiting, too. Usopp was waiting.

"I'm here!" Chopper jumped over the same railing the sniper had fallen over and ran to the patch of grass where the crew was huddled. There was a bloody, shaking, fevered body between them that grew worse every second. But now Chopper had the exact ingredients he needed. His medicine would never fail!

No matter how this started. How did it start? Usopp was dancing around and laughing, so how did this happen? Why was he bleeding so much? Chopper treated Usopp's wounds in the past, but there was always a way to tell what was wrong. Now there was no way to keep track of them all.

Luffy quietly knelt down next to him as the flustered reindeer dropped beside Usopp, pushing away Franky's large hand while he prepared a fresh layer of gauze. The puncture wound between the sniper's two bottom ribs began to pool with warm liquid as soon as the pressure was removed. Even in this form, Chopper could smell the horrible stench of poison in the blood. His arms were shaking uncontrollably as he pressed the padding down on the hole and tried to bandage it closed.

Behind him, the sun was still setting.

"What's happening, Chopper?" asked Nami, her voice stricken with shock. "What's wrong with him?"

He didn't know how to stop the poison! Chopper felt like falling through the deck and sinking into the ocean forever. Where did it come from? What antidote did he give Usopp? Under his hooves, the sniper inhaled suddenly and groaned with pain. The skin that Chopper felt was burning hot—skin that was losing its color fast. A trickle of blood appeared from Usopp's nose.

What? Where did that come from? What kind of poison or sickness was making him bleed on the inside like that? Desperate, Chopper grabbed his stethoscope and pressed it against the sniper's chest to listen, his watery eyes trembling with fear.

"Do something, Chopper!" Luffy sounded earnest, almost like he was begging. "There's medicine you can give him, right? Try this! Or this?" The sound of clinking bottles and the feeling of cold glass against Chopper's tiny arm soon followed. But the doctor didn't react; instead, he leaned back and looked down helplessly at the dying Usopp without an idea as to what to give him.

"Don't just sit there!" barked Franky, grabbing him by the shoulder and giving him a shake—which was a lot, considering Franky was so many times the size of the reindeer. "You're wasting time, aren't you? Give him something! You're the doctor on this ship, aren't you?"

"B-But, but..." How could he explain that he didn't have a cure for something he didn't even know? He could just stare over the next few seconds, feeling nothing but the orange sliver of sunlight on his back. The light was fading fast and the blood that soaked the grass looked darker and darker as time crept by. Tears began to leak from the corners of Choppers eyes...

* * *

-

Franky's hands clenched into fists when he saw the tears seep out from underneath the Nightmare's hands. It had been just ten minutes, but the light from the prison was starting to get brighter, which he guessed was bad. How much longer could Chopper put up with his nightmare?

A tremor shook the floor of the cave and the cyborg felt the bottles of cola in his stomach rattle around. As the light reflected off the surface of his eyes, Franky stared long and hard at the spot where the little doctor was trapped.

Then, like a catapult, he sprang forward with his arms outstretched towards the Nightmare's neck. The instant his fingers hit the glowing barrier, he was sucked into another world.

* * *

-

"Usopp...!"

The eyeless and unmoving, shock-ridden bodies of his nakama stood all around him, enclosing the helpless doctor inside. Chopper clutched one of the straps of Usopp's coveralls and shook him. "Come on, Usopp! You can't be...you can't!"

But the sniper's body had gone limp and wouldn't ever move again. Poisoned and ruined because he couldn't figure out what was wrong! Why couldn't he save his nakama? Didn't he promise he'd take care of them all no matter? Didn't they take him along because he was a doctor? Doctors didn't let their patients die. Nakama didn't let nakama die!

The very last tendril of sunlight sunk below the horizon, and the deck was cast under the shadow of dusk. Chopper sniffled and felt the hot tears streaming down his cheeks, but though he'd tried to stop it from happening, he hadn't been able to do anything at all to save him.

Suddenly, a hand reached down from above and plucked the reindeer up by his wrist. Chopper dangled in front of Franky and the rest of the Straw Hat crew with blurry eyes.

"You let Usopp die," Robin stated monotonously, but there were shadows where he eyes were supposed to be.

"I knew you weren't worth bringing along," said Zoro.

Franky's hand squeezed around Chopper's wrist painfully. "Never should have trusted a reindeer to be good enough to be our doctor."

"He's still good for eating." Sanji.

"You're not our nakama."

Luffy.

Frustrated rage and grief swelled inside Chopper. In a flash, he forced Franky to drop him by transforming into his largest form and burst through them. He ran blindly towards the opposite end of the ship, and instinctively hid behind the cabin, where he could be far away from the nakama he'd failed and Usopp's body. There, beside a stack of barrels and against the wall of the cabin, he transformed back into his usual size and broke down sobbing.

It was dark, so he never noticed the shadow in front of him until he smelled something very familiar. It was much, much stronger than the exact same one he'd smelled just before he'd run away. Hiccupping, Chopper looked up in fear to see that Franky had followed him and was crouching just a meter in front of him.

"G-G-Go away, you b-bastard," he sputtered, with another shaky sob. "I know I'm a failure as a doctor and a human, just leave me alone! Leave me alone, got it?"

He hadn't seen Franky's face clearly through the dark, but now he did once the words were out of his mouth. There were fresh tears streaming from Franky's eyes, too. In fact, he looked like he was ready to burst out crying. The cyborg reached out with one of his huge arms, extending a hand towards his ailing nakama.

With a squeak, Chopper leapt forward and clung to Franky's brightly colored shirt. He buried his face and antlers, his little body trembling with sobs. The shipwright didn't say anything, but put his outstretched arm around the reindeer and stood up. Franky carried him towards the end of the ship, to the railing that overlooked the sea. So swallowed up in his anguish, Chopper never even realized that they were sailing over the edge and towards the churning sea below until the falling sensation hit his belly.

The scream in his throat was stopped when he woke up with his back on the cold, hard ground. He caught a glimpse of a strange lady monster above him flailing around, her claw-like fingers swiping towards his face. His scream returned in full throttle.

WHAM.

Franky's fist struck the creature under the jaw. Hard. With a sickening 'snap', the monster's head went back and her faintly glowing body burst into a million little beads of light. Wailing in fright, the small doctor scrambled away from the spectacle and towards the cyborg, clinging to his ankle as the brightness faded away.

"Wh-wh-wh-wh-what was that? Franky, where did the ship...the ship...?" Chopper was suddenly picked up again, this time with both of the cyborg's hands and tossed into the air. He was caught again under the armpits, utterly bewildered and 'freaking out' by the suddenness of it all.

"Oi, Doctor Chopper! We made it out together!" The way Franky was talking made it overly evident that he was trying to shake the very distressing emotions that the nightmare had given him. Seeing the tear-streaked face of his nakama and the walls of the cave around him, it began to occur to him that he'd been dreaming the entire thing.

Chopper's shocked, blank expression only moved when he blinked at Franky. "Is...is Usopp...?"

"Yeah! He's _super_!" laughed the cyborg, grinning widely.

Stars all but formed in the reindeer's eyes. Fur standing on end with excitement, Chopper threw all four limbs and began to laugh happily. It hurt to be laughing so much so soon after crying his heart out, but the relief of being rescued from such a terrible ordeal was too overwhelming to stop. It almost felt like the time they were on the ship, having fun and dancing in circles until they were dizzy all over again...

Then the Nightmare dropped down on them from above with a maddening hiss, her claws outstretched.

-


End file.
